Expansion of the Dimensions of the 'Forbidden Relationship' Film Release; Whistleblower Claims Minister of Culture Was Aware of the Scandal

More than a week after the release of the 'sexual relationship' video of the director of the Gilan Province Cultural Heritage Office, new dimensions of this 'moral scandal' involving the head of the 'Chastity and Hijab Headquarters of Gilan' have been reported. The editor of the Telegram channel of Radio Gilan, who first published the video of Reza Taqati's sexual relationship, announced on Thursday, July 27, in an exclusive interview with Voice of America that this official from Ibrahim Raisi's government and 50 others have been arrested in connection with this case. Payman Behboudi described the new information received as 'shocking' and stated, 'Before the release of this video through Radio Gilan, the Intelligence Department of the IRGC had the video and had sent it to the center.' He further added, 'The IRGC's intelligence organization, while showing this video to the Minister of Culture, requested that Reza Taqati be removed from his position in the Gilan Cultural Heritage Office as soon as possible, but the Minister of Culture refused to do so.' According to the director of Radio Gilan, the 'sexual relationship' video of the head of the 'Chastity and Hijab Headquarters of Gilan' was also shown in the National Security Commission of the Parliament, and members of Parliament had also asked the Minister of Culture to remove this official from his position as soon as possible, which also went unanswered. Behboudi also stated, 'After the release of this video on the Telegram channel of Radio Gilan, a special order from the head of the judiciary sent a 20-member team of experts to Gilan Province to investigate the dimensions of this incident, and in this regard, 50 people have been arrested.' Morteza Mahmoudvand, a member of the National Security Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, said on August 3, 'We were aware of the relationships of the director of the Gilan Cultural Heritage Office before the video was released and had warned the Minister.' He also emphasized, 'This issue has hidden roots and dimensions that cannot be clearly stated from the podium.' Reza Taqati, who is also the founder of the 'Chastity and Hijab Workshop,' was dismissed from his position after the public release of the video attributed to his sexual relationship with a young man. Previously, the editor of the Telegram channel 'Radio Gilan,' who first published the aforementioned video, emphasized in an exclusive interview with Voice of America that Reza Taqati had multiple sexual partners who have been arrested, and one of them provided the video to him. According to Payman Behboudi, the editor of the Telegram channel of Radio Gilan, the videos were received by this media 'three weeks ago' before their release, and a portion of '13 videos' was published by group decision.